Adiós Noruega! Gracias por los recuerdos.....

The search for Elsa is coming to an end. In a few days I will leave Norway....not forever because I have to fly to Oslo in January to finish getting my Spanish visa (more on that later), but these are still my last remaining days as a full time Norwegian resident. This feeling is always tough. You get used to a place, you develop a routine, you make friends, and suddenly you are uprooting your life once again to move and repeat. I've been living this lifestyle for the past five years and it's always a mixture of excitement and sadness when one's time in a place comes to an end. Well, when I was working it wasn't always sadness (some projects I really wanted to get the hell out of there) but for the most part the feeling is the same every time I leave a place that I've lived long enough to recognize street names and stop using Google maps. I can't help but be excited and slightly nervous for the next chapters in this incredibly lucky life of mine but I will miss Norway. I really like this country and the people I've met here. It is a country and culture that I could live in for the rest of my life if given the opportunity.

So, I thought it fitting to end my time in Norway with a list detailing my favorite memories:

1) My new friends. I've met some great people here and one of the reasons I'm so sad is that I know some of them I may never see again. It's bound to happen, people's lives get crazy and it's hard to stay in touch. Yes, there's always Facebook with it's updates and glimpses into people's live but it's really only good to a certain extent. I hope anyone reading this, new friend or old, knows that no matter how much or how little we keep in touch, they will always hold a special place in my life. And hopefully, someday, we'll meet again...

(I know I'm copying Stephen Colbert with this song but it's a great song!)

2) My trip to Lofoten. Definitely the first place I'm coming back to for a Norwegian vacation. It's just such a breathtaking place.

3) Participating in the outdoorsy Norwegian lifestyle. I think I went on more hikes over these past few months than I've gone on in the past few years. I don't know why that is, I like hiking and I like nature, I should really do it more often. Also, big fan of staying in a cabin in the woods.

4) Cross country skiing. I know this is also a part of the Norwegian outdoorsy lifestyle but it was so much fun I decided it should get its own number and I just returned from the outing about 30 minutes ago. My friend Silje and her boyfriend took me and they were so wonderfully patient. It's been about 15 years since I've had skis on my feet and it took me a bit to get used to it again but I have to say I'm pretty proud of myself. Yes, I fell more that once but several of them were just because I don't really know how to stop......What made the whole thing even better was that it was all on a lit path in the dark and there were hardly any other people on the trail. Sometimes it felt like we had the forest to ourselves...

It was awesome and just another reason for me to wish I were staying longer in Norway. Boy am I going to be sore tomorrow though.....

5) Thanksgiving. One of my favorite days/evenings of the whole semester. We (myself and the two other Americans in CoMEM) put together a huge meal composed of traditional American favorites and asked our fellow cohorts to bring any dish they wanted. We ended up with quite an international spread and one of the best meals I ate all semester. Plus, I pretty much took the day off from studying and treated myself to mimosas which I hadn't enjoyed in quite a while. It was a great day.

6) Proving to myself that I'm able to do school again. It was hard to get back into the rhythm of being a student with homework and studying but I think I did OK in all of my classes. I have yet to get any grades back but I'm definitely not an "A" student anymore and I'm fine with that result. I'm proud of myself regardless. This past month I studied more than I think I ever studied during my undergrad. Granted, I don't think the classes I took were any harder than anything I took for my bachelor's but I was extremely anxious about final exams. In Norway that one exam is 100% of your grade for the class. I'm not used to this type of testing, and I'm not a fan to be honest, but I did it and survived.

7) Seeing Trondheim in the summer (and experiencing the long days) as well as seeing Trondheim in the winter. I have to say, I'm getting used to the darkness, maybe because I'm a natural night owl? Not that I love it, the long days in August are preferable, but the dark isn't so bad once you get used to it. Plus it finally snowed! Good solid snow blanketing the city. It's really pretty. I was able to walk around after hitting the Christmas market today and take some pictures.

I have a lot to look forward to during my break. First, my break is almost two months long. Crazy, I don't know what I'm going to do with myself except try and focus on my Spanish Rosetta Stone more. Tomorrow I leave Trondheim to go stay with my friend Hanne at her parents' place until I leave. Have I mentioned how awesome my friends are? They really take care of me! Someday I will return the favor. On Tuesday I fly to Munich to meet Nadia and spend Christmas with her and her family until the 29th where I'll fly back with her to London to ring in the New Year and spend almost the whole month of January. I'm going to get to see some old friends from when I interned in England years ago as well as apply (and wait) for a visa to India. Late January I fly back to Oslo for two nights so I can go to the Spanish Embassy to get my student visa sticker in my passport. Yes, that sounds a little ridiculous doesn't it, but don't even get me started on my Spanish visa. I had a minor meltdown last week when, after I finally received my letter of admission into UPC,  and I realized I couldn't apply for my Spanish visa while I was in London. I had to do it here, in Oslo, or back in the states. After many emails and phone calls, I ended up mailing my passport and visa application to Oslo for them to check over and mail back to me...one week before I was set to leave Norway. Needless to say, I was extremely nervous mailing out my passport BUT it all ended up working out and I am once again in possession of my international travel lifeline. I still have to return in January to get the actual visa which is slightly annoying but hey, I haven't been to Oslo yet so there you go, silver lining. I fly from Oslo to Barcelona on January 30th where I will finally see my new home for the next 4-5 months and hopefully get all settled in before school starts on February 9th. However I can't get too comfortable because on February 11th I'm set to fly to New Delhi for a week to attend my wonderful friend UD's wedding. Two months, 5 countries, I think it'll be a bit exhausting but I'm looking forward to every moment.

That's a wrap Norway! So long and thanks for all the fish.